


Forging Bonds

by Huntress79



Series: Marvel HEA Harlequin Hoopla 2020 [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Avengers Family, Fluff, Howard Stark's A+ Parenting, Insecure Tony Stark, James "Rhodey" Rhodes is a Good Bro, M/M, Marvel HEA Harlequin 2020, Pepper Potts Is a Good Bro, Peter Parker is Tony Stark's Biological Child, Precious Peter Parker, Protective Bruce Banner, Protective Bucky Barnes, Protective Steve Rogers, Secret Baby, Toddler Peter Parker, War Veteran Bucky Barnes, War Veteran Steve Rogers, stuckony - Freeform, with a pinch of angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-01
Updated: 2020-02-01
Packaged: 2021-02-27 21:41:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,720
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22512667
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Huntress79/pseuds/Huntress79
Summary: Just when Tony thought that his relationship with Steve and Bucky is safe and stable, he learns of a son he apparently has. How will “his” soldiers react to the sudden addition to the household?
Relationships: Clint Barton/Phil Coulson (background), James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers/Tony Stark, Pepper Potts/Natasha Romanov (background)
Series: Marvel HEA Harlequin Hoopla 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1619758
Comments: 12
Kudos: 256
Collections: MHEA Harlequin Hoopla Prompt Challenge 2020, Tony Stark Bingo 2020





	Forging Bonds

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Marvel HEA Harlequin Hoopla, **Day 1 “Secret Baby”**. And for the "Fluff" square on my Tony Stark Bingo Card. Set in an AU where Steve and Bucky are war veterans (and born in our days), and May Parker is Peter’s mom, not his aunt. Pepper is a good friend to all three men and in a relationship with Natasha. Special guest appearances by Rhodey and the other Avengers (though they aren’t any kind of superheroes in this one). Fluffy fluff with just a tiny pinch of angst. Enjoy!

*********************

_Penthouse Suite, Avengers Tower_

“Tones? You’re in there somewhere?”

Said man heard the worried undertone in his best friend’s voice, but somehow, he was still too shocked of recent events to come up with a verbal answer.

“Should I get Steve or Bucky for you?”

Great, now Pepper was also here. And between her and Rhodey, Tony never, ever stood a chance (not that he would put up a lot of fight at all, he loved to be cared for by his friends).

“Miss Potts, I already have notified Mr. Rogers and Mr. Barnes of the situation. They are on their way up to the penthouse.”

“Thank you, Jarvis,” the CEO replied, something akin to relief lacing her voice.

Only seconds later, the elevator arrived and the two former soldiers hurried over to where Tony was still sitting, staring into the distance.

“Rhodey, what happened?”

Bucky was the first to find his voice, addressing his former team mate with a heavy dose of worry in his voice.

“Rhodey, don’t…,” came the rather weak protest from Tony, which in turn made both his lovers even more suspicious. What the heck had happened? And why didn’t Tony want them to know about it?

“Tony,” Steve began, crouching down in front of the genius and laying a hand on his knee, “you know you can tell us everything. Buck and I love you, unconditionally, and we never, ever would hold anything against you.” Out of the corner of his eyes, Steve saw Bucky nod. “So whatever has shocked you, don’t close yourself up from us. We are here for you, just like Rhodey and Pepper.”

“I…,” Tony began, only to stop himself and shake his head. “You have to believe me that until a couple of minutes ago, I had no freaking idea about it.”

“About what, doll?” Bucky prompted, mirroring Steve’s position on Tony’s other side.

“I… I apparently have fathered a son. He’s about two years old, so he was conceived before I met both of you. And now his mother is dead, he has no other relatives, and I… I don’t know if I can be a father at all…”

At long last, Tony let his emotions free reign and more or less broke down in the protective double hug he received from his lovers.

Some minutes went by, in which Steve noticed both Pepper and Rhodey leaving the penthouse, Ever so slowly, Tony’s sobs turned into hiccups, mostly due to both him and Bucky rubbing soothing circles into whatever part of his body they could reach.

With a sniff, Tony finally straightened up again before locking gazes with both men.

“I…,” he began, only to be stopped by Bucky.

“Let us talk first, doll, okay?” Tony only nodded. “As you know, I grew up with four sisters, and this spitfire over there,” he gave’s Steve’s shoulder a gentle shove, “as an honorary brother, which continued all through our life well into our military careers.”

Again, Tony nodded. They all knew pretty much every single detail about the other men’s lives, no matter how dark some memories were.

“So, what Buck wants to say is that we would love to meet this Mini-Me of yours, honey,” Steve continued. “We both love kids, and to be honest, alone from the few things you told us about him, I, for one, am already halfway in love with him.”

“Me the same,” Bucky added, both men giving Tony a blinding smile.

“So, you’re not mad at me for dragging you into this mess? I mean…”

“Stop right there, doll,” Bucky interrupted him again, his pale blue eyes blazing. “You said it yourself, he was conceived before we all met. So we,” he gestured between him and Steve, “have actually no right to be mad or anything at you.” Steve nodded his agreement. “And compared to what we both did in our past, this is just wonderful news.” He quickly looked down before locking his gaze with Tony. “While you were at that conference in London last week, Stevie and I actually talked about having kids in the future with you. But we couldn’t come up with any good plan how to achieve that. I mean, we had some plans, but we all ditched them right after coming up with them.”

“And about your fears about being a father, honey?” Steve took over, giving both Bucky’s and Tony’s hand a little squeeze. “Have you never heard the phrase ‘It takes a village to raise a child’?”

Of course, Tony had heard that phrase before, but with what he had experienced with Howard, he thought that Stark men weren’t exactly that kind of father a child would deserve.

“Sure, Ana Jarvis used to say it from time to time, especially when I was being extra demanding. But I don’t get what you want to say with it now.”

“What I want to say is that you’re not alone in this ride, honey. You’ve got, at least, Buck and me in your corner, plus Pepper and Rhodey. And where Pepper goes, Nat follows. The same goes for Happy.”

“And if your son has only 1 per cent of your personality, doll,” Bucky continued, “he’ll charm everyone else into being an aunt or uncle in a heartbeat.” He leaned in closer, pressing a soft kiss to Tony’s temple. “Don’t worry, doll, we got you. And we got your, no, _OUR_ boy, as well. You’ll gonna be a great, a wonderful father to this kid, and we won’t let anyone tell you otherwise.”

“Buck’s right, whoever dares to say anything wrong about you, or how we raise our child, he’s or she’s gonna have to face dire consequences, delivered by at least one very protective former member of the Special Forces.”

*********************

The next day came, and with it the first official meeting of Tony and his son. Pepper even went so far to clear her own schedule to be there for her friends, knowing that while Steve and Bucky were supportive of Tony, they also needed their own support system. Well, she wasn’t a master planner for nothing.

And so, Tony, Steve and Bucky were quite surprised when they entered the common area some floors below their penthouse to find all their friends there. Nat, Clint, Scott, Hope, Sam, Wanda, Pietro, Thor, Jane, Darcy, Bruce, even Loki was there.

“How?... What?”

“Deep breaths, Tones,” Rhodey instructed before handing his longtime friend a cup of coffee. “We’re all here to show you our support…”

“...besides,” Natasha took over, “we all are very curious about meeting that little offspring of yours,” she finished before giving Tony a wink.

“Don’t worry, Tony,” Clint threw in, “you’ll gonna get the hang of being a father quickly enough, and if push comes to shove, you all three,” he looked up at Bucky and Steve as well, “can come to me or Scott or Phil at any time, you hear me?”

“Thank… thank you, guys,” Bucky all but grounded out.

Before any of them could say anything more, the door opened, and a social worker came in, a small, brunet toddler holding her hand tight.

All the adults in the room held their breath, not daring to risk scaring the kid in any way.

The boy looked around - at the large, ceiling-to-floor windows opening to a stunning view of Midtown Manhattan, the furniture, the paintings on the wall, and at last, all the people right in front of him. His brown eyes took them all in with the same level of interest (which was apparently quite a lot, if the way they got big when they landed on Loki and stayed that way when they landed on Bucky were any indicator) before letting go of the social worker’s hand and all but launching himself at Tony, who was so surprised at the boy’s actions that both Steve and Rhodey had to reach out and help him support the kid’s lithe body in his arms.

“Hi,” the boy said while looking up at Tony.

“Hi back, kid,” the genius finally got out, his mind still reeling from the unconditional level of trust his kid had from the get-go in him.

“You are Daddy?”

“Yeah, looks like that way,” Tony said with a shrug. A voice piped up in the back of his mind to do a paternity test before he signed anything, but for once, Tony didn’t want to rely on science at all. Sure, he would do the test anyway, just to make sure no one was going to take the boy away from them again, but right now, the good, warm feeling he got from his gut told him enough to know that the boy was his son, in every meaning of the word.

“Ma’am,” Bucky’s voice broke through the bubble, “does he have a name?”

“Yes, sir, he has,” the woman answered. “Everyone, meet Peter.”

“Hi, Peter,” Steve cut in from the side, taking one of the kid’s tiny hands in his large one, “I’m Steve, and you’re gonna see me and Bucky over there a lot.”

“Are you Daddy too?” the boy asked, his big brown eyes searching Steve’s face.

“Yes, yes, I am, and Bucky is too - if you want us to be your Daddies as well.” Steve had to swallow the lump in his throat before continuing. “And these other people here? They all want to be your aunts and uncles. Wouldn’t that be great?”

“Mhm,” Peter agreed before giving a big yawn and falling asleep on Tony’s chest.

“Mr. Stark,” the social worker started, “don’t get me wrong, but I have to check the living situation you have here. It is something I do for every child in my care…”

“...and it is something that can wait a day or two, right?” Bruce cut in before getting up and steering the social worker out of the common area. “Let’s give them some time to bond and have some tea over in the cafeteria.”

Looking back at the room, Bruce got a nod of thanks from Steve, Bucky and Tony, which he answered with a soft smile. If anyone deserved all the happiness in the world, it was these three men, and he would make sure to keep this status quo for them all - whatever it takes.

*********************

The End

*********************


End file.
